– New Downtown Scottsdale Restaurant – The Upton –
July 2016 Update: The Upton has closed.
I had read a lot about a new entrant into Downtown Scottsdale’s dining scene and was looking forward to trying out The Upton. It opened in the space formerly occupied by Petite Maison, just southeast from the Camelback Road and Scottsdale Road intersection. It has now been open a few weeks after a speedy remodel and is already doing great business.
We went on a Wednesday evening and had the option to sit inside the intimate dining space or on the front patio. We elected to sit inside the beautifully decorated dining area that has tables along the wall on one side and the bar on the other. From our table, we could see the back patio where a large group was enjoying themselves.
The menu is interesting and pulls from a lot of flavors and regional cuisines. We opted to try a number of them.
To start, we were intrigued by the crispy confit duck wings with sriracha ranch and pickled radish. They were different and delicious. The meat fell off of the wings and the sriracha gave it a nice little bit of heat. We also had a burrata with olive and pepper relish with fig bread. It was a great way to start the meal.
For dinner, we had salmon over a fennel and arugula salad. It came with a lemon yogurt sauce that was nice and light.
We also had the simple farro salad with arugula and herbs, which disappeared quickly.
From the Veggies section of the menu, we chose two items. The first was the hand cut fries with garlic aioli. The generous portion of fries were hot and crispy, just right. The second choice was crispy cauliflower with lemon chimichurri. This may have been my favorite dish of the evening. The cauliflower was seasoned perfectly and the lemon in the chimichurri really brightened up the dish.
Some other dishes we noted, but did not get to try were a vegan ramen, (which also comes with the option to add meat or egg if you wish,) and Korean pork steamed buns.
Overall, we had an excellent meal and will be back very soon. If you go, be sure to peruse the story of how they chose the name of The Upton. It is printed on the menu and is an interesting read.
More Information:
The Upton
7216 East Shoeman Lane
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-991-6887
Website
